The new media

• New media

  Forms of communication that have arrived after the digital revolution
• New media

  • Multi-dimensional, able to perform many different functions in comparison to traditional media
  • Allows for two-way communication between the source and their audience
• Characteristics of new media


  • Convergence
  • Interactivity
  • Participation
  • Accessibility
• Convergence

  Allowing people to perform various functions through one device
• Functions enabled by convergence


  • Paying bills
  • Connecting with others
  • Purchasing goods
  • Taking photographs
• Economic convergence


  Companies coming together to provide packages of information for individuals
• Cultural convergence

  Reflecting the diversity of the audience using it
• Interactivity

  The ability for users to have a greater connection with the new media
• Interactivity in new media

  • People can comment on content
  • People can share their content with a global audience
• Participation

  Ability for individuals to participate in the creation of media
• Accessibility

  Ability to have choice over how and when to receive media messages
• The amount of time spent on the internet in the last 10 years has doubled, largely driven by the usage of the internet by younger people
• This has caused a generational divide with older people being less likely to access digital media sources
• The new generation


  Has been bought up immersed in an interactive culture that has influenced their outlook on life, seeking immediate gratification and wanting to access information on the move and react to current events with immediacy
• Social class impacts on access to the new media with lower social classes spending less time engaged with the new media, creating a digital underclass
• Limited access to the internet is problematic in contemporary society, with many state institutions adopting procedures to seek help that are completely online, excluding the digital underclass
• This exclusion was most evident during covid as education moved online and many children were excluded due to inconsistent or no connection to the internet, leading to marginalisation in society
• In 2015 an Ofcom report suggested just 54% of lower social classes have access to smart technology
• Positive impacts of the new media

  • Increase consumer choice
  • Growth of online commerce
  • Potential to revitalise democracy and social movements such as BLM
• Negative impacts of the new media

  • Decline in quality of entertainment (quantity replaces quality)
  • Cheap programming to fulfil greater demand for content
  • Lack of reliability of sources (development of fake news)